February 14, 2020

Tennessee-based Cookeville Regional Medical Center Authority (CRMC) has agreed to pay $4.1 million to settle allegations of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law, and False Claims Act from 2012 to 2017.  In a qui tam suit that initiated the investigation, an unnamed whistleblower alleged that CRMC submitted claims to Medicare and TennCare that arose from improper financial arrangements with physicians at its wholly owned subsidiary, CRMC MSO-Sub 1, Inc., d/b/a Tennessee Heart.  $3.6 million of the settlement proceeds will go to the United States, $453,000 will go to the State of Tennessee, and $779,000 will go to the whistleblower.  USAO MDTN

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Medicare, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,